The logo colors of real estate

A great foundation for building a brand

It’s a buyer’s market when it comes to hiring a real estate professional. Competition is fierce. Clients want to know that you’re capable of helping them reach their goals while being responsible with their time and money. Plus, they want to like you. So to make the sale you need to appear trustworthy, knowledgeable and personable.

So what are the keys to appearing trustworthy while also standing out in the crowded real estate market? We’ve analyzed the color palettes of over 600 real estate industry logos, evaluated the brand personality traits that realtors want, and consulted color psychology experts in order to help you decide.

Making the appraisal: how real estate colors add up

All data visualizations designed by MH Designs.

Some realtors will go to great heights to get noticed, like Paul Rudd's character in I love you, man. A bold color would be an easier choice. Image via theoryfx.com.

Real estate professionals are a colorful bunch. Yes, they do prefer blue in their logos just like almost everyone else: over two-thirds of industry-leading logos contain blue, and it’s requested in over 50% of real estate logo contests at 99designs. But other colors make a strong showing: green, for example, is requested about 26% of the time on 99designs, and red appears in about 29% of industry-leading logos. Gray, black and white all make great neighbors to any color choice, making their popularity soar as well.

The outsider? Pink. Appearing in less than 2% of all real estate logos, it ranks at the very bottom of the market. Perhaps its softness makes it seem out of place in an industry about making large, life altering purchases.

Blue appears in three of these logos, and is the prominent color in two—though the specific shades communicate different attributes. While Coldwell Banker’s dark choice is dignified and authoritative, the light blue Prudential logo is more calming and approachable.

Century 21, the most recognizable brand of them all, proves that blue is not the only powerhouse on the block. Paired with the strong black text, yellow stands out and gives the house a happy, welcoming vibe. These distinctive colors help Century 21 stand out in a predominantly blue neighborhood.

Just like these companies, the colors you select for your logo will have a huge effect on how clients view your brand. How might a small business emulate the success of trendsetting industry leaders without the multi-million dollar marketing budget?

Once you know what you want your brand personality to be, it’s easy to translate those traits into colors.

On the market: colors of brand personality in real estate

When you complete a 99designs design brief, you are asked to rate your business on twelve personality traits.

Our data shows that real estate professionals have the following preferences:

We analyzed the preferences of all industries and assumed normal distribution. Preference strength was figured on number of standard deviations from the mean.

From this we infer that people in real estate want to be perceived as luxurious, mature, modern and serious. These traits align with the following colors:

Based on this, we would expect to see a lot of blue, black, purple and pink real estate logos, and very few that are orange and yellow.

In reality, only two of these colors are featured listings: blue and black. Many real estate agents have relationships with larger brokerages (like Sotheby’s or RE/MAX), which could explain why we see such a high volume of certain colors. But no large brokerage is using pink or purple. In fact, these colors are used so rarely that it seems nobody’s even inviting them to the open house.

While orange and yellow may rank low on these attributes, there’s one key mantra to remember: location, location, location. When used as accent colors, these warm hues can give your logo a friendly dose of personality.

Increasing your curb appeal: what colors should realtors consider?

If you’re willing to stray from the tried-and-true blue of real estate logo colors, there are several other options that ensure that you visually stand out, but still maintain a brand personality that’s trustworthy and competent.

Both pink and purple are perceived as luxurious and mature, yet appear in less than 6% of all real estate industry logos (and just 3% of the industry-leading logos). If you specialize in higher-end property, elevate your brand with the royalty of purple. Alternatively, if you are a buyers agent specializing in first timers, nurture them with a pink logo.

The unique value that only you can offer is your relationship with buyers and sellers. If you’re working for yourself, your brand personality will be highly influenced by your own personality.

Focus on how you can help clients reach their goals better than anyone else, and employ color to bring in elements of your unique charm. You could also follow in the footsteps of industry leaders who have chosen to play up other brand personality traits in their logo color choices.

With thousands of employees in over 67 countries, Colliers International shows its diversity by building on blue with bright hues. Multiple colors also allude to the company’s range of services to commercial real estate owners, investors and developers.

Cushman and Wakefield’s bright red logo is associated with strength and determination—suite traits for a global company that’s all about helping clients transform the way people work, shop and live.

Grubb Knight Frank is one of the world’s largest commercial real estate service firms, proving that pink is indeed capable of building an empire. This vibrant shade possesses the same high energy as red; it’s passionate without being overly aggressive.

As you seek to design your real estate logo, you’ll want to take your brand personality into account, and think about the traits you most want to convey. Color is a personal choice, but knowing its psychology can help you make an informed decision for your small business.

Have we confirmed your choice for blue? Or made you passionate about purple? Either way, when you design your logo, remember to focus on what separates you from other real estate professionals in your market.

Blue collar, white collar, purple collar: what are the colors of other industries?